CHARCOAL AND WOOD WORKGROUP MEETING

Environment Department: University of York

Sunday 4^th October 2015

Organisers:

Dana Challinor (Oxford), Lauren Shotter (Edinburgh), Maria Gehrels and Colin Courtney-Mustaphi (York)

Programme:

 10am               Arrival and coffee

 10.30 – 12.30am          Presentations/Discussion

Colin Courtney-Mustaphi (University of York):

• The REAL project; an overview of how we build, analyse and use charcoal records in palaeoenvironmental studies and ongoing projects.
• Emerging palaeoecological methods for charcoal analysis

 

Zoe Hazell (Historic England):  

• Update on the 6^th Anthracology Conference in Freiburg 2015.
• Archaeological excavation and wood charcoal analysis of charcoal burning platforms, Cumbria, NW England.

 

Gill Campbell (Historic England):

• Update on the EAA 2015 session ‘Scientific techniques to examine human interaction with woodlands (Lorna O’Donnell and Scott Timpany)’.
• Evergreens in Wiltshire: an early prehistory.  The historic ecology of pine in southern England and impact of Mesolithic and Neolithic populations.

 General discussion topics.

 12.30 – 1.30pm            Lunch

Workshops

1.30 – 3.30pm              Workshop with Steve Allen (York Archaeological Trust)

Steve will be bringing some teaching materials to discuss aspects of waterlogged wood recording (and application to charcoal) including: toolmark signatures, growth rates etc.

There will also be an opportunity for a general microscope session.  Everyone is welcome to bring any material they would like to discuss or get a second opinion on.

A wood slide reference collection will be available.

 3.30 – 4pm       Tea will be available for anyone wishing to stay for further discussion or microscope use.